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I have a colleague who usually does different ones for internal and external: internal will be “I’m currently in the pouring rain in a tent in the Cotswolds. I get back (hopefully without trenchfoot!) on Monday Date. Whilst I’m getting soggy please contact Email Address.” and external is just “I’m on annual leave between X and Y and will not be accessing my email. Please contact Email Address if you need assistance during this time.” We all really like their internal ones.
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When I worked in a federally-regulated industry that required drug testing, we always tended to say “our drug program” when we should have been saying, “drug abatement program.”
Direct to Another Form of Contact Voicemail Greeting Example. Hi there, you’ve reached [your name] at [X company]. If you need a quick response, please shoot me an email at [X email address]. Otherwise, please leave me a message with your name and phone number and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Out-of-Office Voicemail Greeting
While you’re writing and activating your out of office message, avoid including the following:
We're talking about engagement here. Do you have a webinar clients can watch in case they miss your face or want to hear your voice? Do you have a special going for new clients or referrals? Do you have a hot new blog post you wrote just before stepping out? Tell your people to click on that!
Hi there, Thank you for reaching out! We are currently in the middle of our busy season so our reply may be delayed up to three days. We appreciate your patience while we look into this for you! Thank you.
My OOO messages are always pretty casual, and the last line in the list of “for X, contact Y” is always something like “for chili recipes, contact Z”.
I work in a culture where even when you say you won’t have access to email, you are expected to be checking. I include this only on the internal auto-response, so that the people in my company know that when I say I won’t have access to email (which is also explained in the email), I mean it. Nothing else seems to work.
Having easy access to your work even when you away from the office doesn’t mean you don’t take time to disconnect and relax for a while. You deserve to take a break, muting all the mailboxes and switching off your work phone for a couple of days or weeks. However, there is a lot you should put in place before going away from your office, in the true sense.
Thank you for calling [Company Name]; we are currently closed in observance of [holiday name]. We will return on [Date] at 8 AM Eastern Time. If you would like to reach our Dial by Name Directory, please press 1. To leave a voicemail, please press 2. A representative will contact you upon our return. To repeat this menu, please press the # key. [If no response after a few seconds] Goodbye. Voicemail Greeting
Above a certain level in my agency managers have to designate an official delegate when they’re out, which can easily result in out of office messages like what you’ve listed. Not the most elegant, but clear and useful!
2. Out of Office Template #2 For the Person Who Likes to Keep it Friendly, But Professional. Hello, Thank you for your email. I’m currently offline until [date] to celebrate the holiday with my loved ones—without my phone in front of my face.
I took two weeks off recently and put together a google doc of anticipated things someone might need to know. I slacked it to our whole team with instructions not to call me unless we’re about to lose $1 million or more (we’re a small office and I wear a lot of hats so lots of small things could have been a problem). IDK if anyone actually read it, but it set a tone of “don’t think you can reach me for the next 2 weeks” and let me keep a short OOO response.
Regardless of my general health and hygiene over the silly season, I’ll be back in the office on January 2. 15. “Thank you for your consideration during this festive or not-festive time.”
If you’re anything like I am, you probably fall into team two. That doesn’t leave a lot of time to get creative. But if you plan ahead, you might be able to craft some hilarity.
This email comes from another one of my colleagues. The purpose of this email is to intercept messages during Thanksgiving, and the way in which it does so is, well, with thankfulness.